Nexus 4 Battery Drain Problem

I have been using the Google Nexus 4 smartphone for a few weeks and, over all, I have enjoyed the experience. Using Google Android Jelly Bean has improved the performance of this cellphone, making it function smoothly during the course of all the activities I complete each day. Though the regular functioning of the phone is top-notch, there is one issue that is annoying and is in need of a fix from Google or LG/Qualcomm.

The annoyance? When the Google Nexus 4 is connected to 3G/4G or other cell tower connection, battery drain seems excessive. At least this is the opinion of some people who have expressed their opinions over at the XDA forums. Over at the Android forum, one user states the following, which fairly sums up the problem:

On Google/LG Nexus 4, running Android 4.2.1 (stock/rooted), there is a severe battery drain caused by the “msm_hsic_wakelock” process.

From what I have read, the process should cause a wakelock every time there is a mobile data activity. However, post the data activity, the wakelock is not released, which causes a severe battery drain.

Under the battery stats in Android 4.2.1, the drain shows up in “Android OS” or “Android System” and sometimes even the “Phone” process.

According to some reports, the problem subsides when the Google Nexus 4 is used on Wi-Fi. This could explain why I have not personally experienced this issue since using my Nexus 4. I spend the majority of time using the cellphone on Wi-Fi whether at home, visiting friends, or at some of the businesses I visit that have Wi-Fi. In fact, in checking my Wi-Fi listing of connections, surprisingly I have 15 connections that are set up to auto connect when within range.

I realize that this is not a solution for many of you who read this since your day may be spent with a cell tower connection only. But for those of you who have an option to use a Wi-Fi connection, I would recommend you give this a try while we all wait for a fix or patch to be issued by either Google or LG/Qualcomm.

Update:

It seems that Qualcomm has updated the problem according to this report:

So I’ve been testing the msm_hsic wakelock bug fix from Qualcomm in the last six hours and I have roughly 11s spent on that wakelock, which is normal and expected. I might drop r22 in a little containing only that fix as a change.

This is just one person’s experience, however. So if you own a Nexus 4 phone, let us know if this fix has worked for you.

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